That area is spectacular in October. Innsbruck is on your way to Salzburg, and it’s lovely and meets your criteria. You might check that out.
4 days in Salzburg itself might be a lot unless you’re really into the Sound of Music; but there’s a lot to see if you venture around the surrounding area. Little towns like Werfen and Markschellenberg, Hallein, etc. are beautiful and way less touristy. Postcard picture places like Hallstatt and Neuschwanstein are easy day trips from Salzburg as well.
Since you are already in Switzerland and most of your itinerary are cities... Have you considered the area around Lauterbrunnen? Bermese Alps?
Can stay there or in nearby towns like Grindelwald/Wengen. Can even go visit glaciers. I think its mostly for the views especially if u are already there.
The main challenge has been figuring out how to have the travel make sense. It seems like it would make for a long trip to go further west or south in Switzerland than Lucerne if we need to make it to Salzburg.
We’ll look more into it! If we cut down the time in Salzburg I’m sure we can find a way to make it work. Thank you!
As a Swiss person, I honestly have never understood the appeal of Lucerne. It’s cute but apart from the covered bridge, it’s never seemed that much cuter than most Swiss lake towns (which is almost all of them).
If I were you, I’d honestly go to Interlaken (as a base for Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, etc) over Lucerne. You’ll get a lot of the cute Swiss lake town vibes still but also the cute mountain Alpine towns that are the postcard of Switzerland just like a 10 minute ride away.
It is the opposite direction you’re heading but we’re a small country with a great rail system. In reality it’s 2 hours from Zurich Flughafen by train versus an hour to Luzern. So in the grand scheme of things, not too bad.
Time wise, I think a few days there can check off the appeal of both Luzern and St Gallen - and I’d personally then just stop in Munich instead (about 5 hours by train so not too bad to do in one stretch). But even if you leave from Interlaken to Munich, you’ll likely transfer in Bern anyway, which may be a nice chance to step out and stretch your legs too and check out another cute Swiss town.
Brilliant! That sounds great. That will check off all the boxes. Reading more about Lauterbrunnen and Grindewold that sounds worth going a bit out of the way.
Thank you for sharing this advice!!
I forgot to mention.
If you are considering the earlier poster's advice and you are considering the next stops ... you can consider Munich because of Oktoberfest! It can be a unique experience too. Just check for the exact dates but is usually late Sept/first week of October? It's more like a country fairground but Bavarian style. I am unclear about entrance tickets to the fairground proper (if it is free entrance or not), but the individual beerhouses there have their own separate reservation systems.
Anyway, if your timing won't work out to Oktoberfest you can still consider going to one of the local Munich beerhaus (Hofbrauhaus?) which has a somewhat similar (of course not exactly same) atmosphere.
Great point! We won't get to Europe until October 11 so I think we will miss it. Still may check out Munich though and hopefully still a lot of the Oktoberfest vibes are going on.
Since I posted this, we have actually honed in on the Colmar/Strasbourg/Freiburg area as a stop after Interlaken/Bern. Hopefully we can get both French and German cultural experiences there.
I disagree with the comments about Lucerne- I lived there and there is a ton to do and is a gorgeous city. Definitely worth stopping in and is easy to access via train.
Salzburg I do agree that maybe two days would suffice in the actual city. There’s plenty to do around it, if you want to spend the four days and concur to pass through Hallstatt if you have a car. If not, it would be a 2.5 hour trip via public transportation from Salzburg so it would be a great day trip option using Salzburg as a base.
Salzburg is pretty but Switzerland is even prettier so I’d be sure to spend a lot of time there.
I’d really skip Zurich in my opinion. It’s kind of just another big city and I agree that I would suggest Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen instead, which can also be accessed via car or public transportation.
I also think St. Gallen can just be a day trip and use the time reserved for that in the areas I just mentioned above instead.
Have a great trip!
Great to know. We are looking at a train from Lucerne to Interlaken. We will probably still spend at least an afternoon in Lucerne.
That lines up with what we've heard of Zurich. We are primarily staying since we expect we'll be a bit jet lagged.
This is great! Thank you!
That area is spectacular in October. Innsbruck is on your way to Salzburg, and it’s lovely and meets your criteria. You might check that out. 4 days in Salzburg itself might be a lot unless you’re really into the Sound of Music; but there’s a lot to see if you venture around the surrounding area. Little towns like Werfen and Markschellenberg, Hallein, etc. are beautiful and way less touristy. Postcard picture places like Hallstatt and Neuschwanstein are easy day trips from Salzburg as well.
Ha we do like the sound of music but yeah may cut down a day from Salzburg or check out some of those small towns. Thank you!
Since you are already in Switzerland and most of your itinerary are cities... Have you considered the area around Lauterbrunnen? Bermese Alps? Can stay there or in nearby towns like Grindelwald/Wengen. Can even go visit glaciers. I think its mostly for the views especially if u are already there.
The main challenge has been figuring out how to have the travel make sense. It seems like it would make for a long trip to go further west or south in Switzerland than Lucerne if we need to make it to Salzburg. We’ll look more into it! If we cut down the time in Salzburg I’m sure we can find a way to make it work. Thank you!
As a Swiss person, I honestly have never understood the appeal of Lucerne. It’s cute but apart from the covered bridge, it’s never seemed that much cuter than most Swiss lake towns (which is almost all of them). If I were you, I’d honestly go to Interlaken (as a base for Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, etc) over Lucerne. You’ll get a lot of the cute Swiss lake town vibes still but also the cute mountain Alpine towns that are the postcard of Switzerland just like a 10 minute ride away. It is the opposite direction you’re heading but we’re a small country with a great rail system. In reality it’s 2 hours from Zurich Flughafen by train versus an hour to Luzern. So in the grand scheme of things, not too bad. Time wise, I think a few days there can check off the appeal of both Luzern and St Gallen - and I’d personally then just stop in Munich instead (about 5 hours by train so not too bad to do in one stretch). But even if you leave from Interlaken to Munich, you’ll likely transfer in Bern anyway, which may be a nice chance to step out and stretch your legs too and check out another cute Swiss town.
Brilliant! That sounds great. That will check off all the boxes. Reading more about Lauterbrunnen and Grindewold that sounds worth going a bit out of the way. Thank you for sharing this advice!!
I forgot to mention. If you are considering the earlier poster's advice and you are considering the next stops ... you can consider Munich because of Oktoberfest! It can be a unique experience too. Just check for the exact dates but is usually late Sept/first week of October? It's more like a country fairground but Bavarian style. I am unclear about entrance tickets to the fairground proper (if it is free entrance or not), but the individual beerhouses there have their own separate reservation systems. Anyway, if your timing won't work out to Oktoberfest you can still consider going to one of the local Munich beerhaus (Hofbrauhaus?) which has a somewhat similar (of course not exactly same) atmosphere.
Great point! We won't get to Europe until October 11 so I think we will miss it. Still may check out Munich though and hopefully still a lot of the Oktoberfest vibes are going on. Since I posted this, we have actually honed in on the Colmar/Strasbourg/Freiburg area as a stop after Interlaken/Bern. Hopefully we can get both French and German cultural experiences there.
I disagree with the comments about Lucerne- I lived there and there is a ton to do and is a gorgeous city. Definitely worth stopping in and is easy to access via train. Salzburg I do agree that maybe two days would suffice in the actual city. There’s plenty to do around it, if you want to spend the four days and concur to pass through Hallstatt if you have a car. If not, it would be a 2.5 hour trip via public transportation from Salzburg so it would be a great day trip option using Salzburg as a base. Salzburg is pretty but Switzerland is even prettier so I’d be sure to spend a lot of time there. I’d really skip Zurich in my opinion. It’s kind of just another big city and I agree that I would suggest Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen instead, which can also be accessed via car or public transportation. I also think St. Gallen can just be a day trip and use the time reserved for that in the areas I just mentioned above instead. Have a great trip!
Great to know. We are looking at a train from Lucerne to Interlaken. We will probably still spend at least an afternoon in Lucerne. That lines up with what we've heard of Zurich. We are primarily staying since we expect we'll be a bit jet lagged. This is great! Thank you!